Abstract

Background

Recent lifestyle approaches to physical activity have included the promotion of domestic
physical activities such as do-it-yourself or home maintenance, gardening and housework.
Although it is acknowledged that any activity is better than none, there is a danger
that those undertaking domestic ‘chores’ may assume that this activity is moderate
intensity and therefore counts towards this 150 minute per week target The purpose
of this paper was to report the contribution domestic physical activity makes to total
weekly physical activity and the relationship between domestic physical activity and
leanness in the Northern Ireland population.

Methods

4563 adults participated in this cross-sectional survey of physical activity behaviour.
Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using computer assisted personal
interviewing. Gender and age group differences in domestic MVPA activity and the ratio
of domestic to total MVPA were explored using non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis tests.
Self-reported volume and intensity of physical activity (in bouts of 10 minutes or
more) in the home and self-reported height and weight were used to determine the association
between domestic physical activity and leanness using an ANCOVA having controlled
for age, gender, socio-economic and smoking status.

Results

42.7% of the population report levels of physical activity which meet or exceed the
current United Kingdom recommendations. Domestic physical activity accounts for 35.6%
of the reported moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). For women, if domestic
physical activity was excluded from total MVPA, only 20.4% would be deemed to meet
current recommendations. Time spent in domestic physical activity at moderate or vigorous
intensity was found to be negatively associated with leanness (P = 0.024), [R Squared = .132
(Adjusted R Squared = .125)].

Conclusions

Domestic physical activity accounts for a significant proportion of self-reported
daily MVPA particularly among females and older adults however such activity is negatively
associated with leanness suggesting that this activity may not be sufficient to provide
all of the benefits normally associated with meeting the physical activity guidelines.